Handling Long-Term Absences Video

Long-term absence in the workplace is on the rise. So as a leader, you'll likely have to deal with it in your team at some point.

Many different personal situations can lead to long-term absence. Often it's stress related, but care responsibilities, physical illness, and family or life commitments are among the many reasons someone might need to take extended time off.

Whatever the reasons for the absence, make sure things go as smoothly as possible for everybody by having a contingency plan in place. Here are the four key things you can do to be better prepared for long-term absence when it occurs in your team.

First up, establish trust in your team. Without trust, your team members are unlikely to come to you with their problems and, if you're not in the loop, chances are you won't see the warning signs in advance. So get to know your team members, have frequent one-on-ones where you don't just talk about work, and make sure that they know you are there whenever they need you.

If important information is only available to core team members when they're not there, things can suddenly get a lot harder for everyone else. Store essential information on shared drives, your intranet, wikis, or even printed documents. Then, if you need to reassign work, people will know where to go.

If possible, meet up with your team member before their leave of absence starts. Establish boundaries together to avoid misunderstandings down the road. Make sure they know they're supported and cared for. You'll want to keep in touch during their absence too, to check in on how they're doing and maintain your relationship.

Finally, make sure that their responsibilities are being adequately covered. If it's feasible, ask the person to make a list of their daily tasks, their key contacts, and any upcoming deadlines. If they can't do it themselves, get them to tell you as much as they can and seek input from other team members to ensure the final handover is as efficient as possible.

If you're bringing someone in to cover the work, be available for them whenever they need you and give them access to all necessary information. The person covering the role shouldn't feel the need to contact the person on leave at any point.

If you get all this right, things should go smoothly during the transition. When it's time for the person taking leave to return, don't expect them to hit the ground running. Together, come up with a plan that works for everyone. You might want to stagger their return. Maybe they'll want to break the ice with colleagues with a get-together or through individual meetings, or they might need to reshape their role and responsibilities.

Give them a full update of any changes that have happened while they've been away, and most importantly, keep talking. The more you communicate, the better their return to work will be.

For more information on how to handle long-term absences in your team, see the article   that accompanies this video.